


Welcome

by pinkhoodie



Series: Run Away With Me [5]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s), Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 12:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20507318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkhoodie/pseuds/pinkhoodie
Summary: The search pays off. They think. Kagome and Sango finally find a place to rest—maybe even a place to call home?





	Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> Time to meet a couple more OCs! I hope you like them! I fell in love with them making them ugh.

Kirara carries the weight of five humans with ease—two adults and three offspring aren’t even close enough to bring the demon cat down. Luckily, one of said offspring is extra tiny, so much so that Sango has no choice but to wrap him in a thin, warm sheet and tie him to her chest while she takes hold of long-forgotten fur. Finally, she pilots Kirara naturally and familiarly, feeling a sense of freedom wash over her despite the extra layer of intentional care she has to provide for her son that she never had to before. Kagome clutches her arms around Sango’s torso and watches clusters of random huts and shrines pass beneath them. They cannot go to any obvious or nearby villages, and they cannot let themselves be seen by eyes other than each other’s.

Miu and Chiharu rest behind Kagome in the softest part of Kirara’s comfortable tail, which wraps around them tightly, making sure of their safety from the height they endure. A small pack Kagome had tied around her back holds a few necessities; grabbed quickly but thoughtfully as they hurried out of the hut before Miroku could return. Luckily, the twins are quiet as they sleep next to one another, Kagome grateful that they’re unable to truly understand the urgency with which their mother and her best friend search for a place to stay.

As Kagome’s cheek nuzzles into the soft, yet toned muscle of Sango’s back, her breath can’t help but stutter in awe. She knows she should be nervous about their husbands seeking them out; knows that anxiety should flow throughout her every vein and burn her body from the inside out—and it does, somewhat. But juxtaposed to the uncertainty and suspense of their journey—after all, Inuyasha may be able to sniff them out at any moment... if he cared to—is a sense of... quiet excitement. And when she’s with Sango... relief. Comfort. A feeling she doesn’t know how to describe just yet.

She finds herself often confused when she’s with Sango. And she doesn’t think she minds.

It’s hours, and then the sun peeks over the horizon and dips long shadows across the fields and patches of trees, turning the sky a pale red. The air is a bit cool, riding up on Kirara who Sango pats sympathetically—she yawns, restrained but great, and Sango knows they have to land soon. What’s odd is that there hasn’t been a village for miles, and Sango looks over her shoulder at her companion to check if she has the same worry. But Kagome’s face is dreamy, and sleepy, and Sango can’t help but… she doesn’t know. Blush? She hasn’t done that in a long time.

She turns away, looking up and swallowing something down, before her eyes follow and she inhales sharply.

“Kagome—!” She shrugs her shoulders and shakes the priestess into awareness. “Kagome, look! There!”

Kagome follows her pretty finger (pretty?) down to a village, the setup rather odd for the ones they’d seen pass by. There’s a large, almost shrine-like building, and surrounding it are 20 to 30 huts, spaces out in a few rows that form a semi-circle around the shrine. Crop fields and gardens sprinkle throughout the spaces in between, and beyond, and thrushes of trees cover some more secluded areas. Ones that spark something within Sango, and that she can’t wait to explore.

It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to fly down and intrude the peaceful village at the crack of dawn on a huge, terrifying monster; plopping down right in the middle of everything… Sango digs her heels into Kirara, points to another area near but away from the village and asks her to land. A content noise leaves Kirara’s open but quiet throat, happy to oblige if she can finally transform and rest. And there’s a river nearby, too—of course, what with the village being so remote, a river is a necessity. Kirara brings them down and the second they hop off, she’s a tiny, sleepy kitten again, and she mewls before closing her eyes and curling up. She’s earned it.

“Wash up!” Sango kneels next to the river, her girls sitting beside her in a row and copying her movements. The water cools their dirty aching hands as they scrub what skin they can clean, splashing water on their face. Kagome follows suit, rushing through the process when she realizes that she’d been too busy people-watching to engage in the activity. Sango giggles, flicking beads of water into Kagome’s face, who reels back with a smile.

“Sango!” Kagome happily stutters, shielding herself briefly before scooping her hands in the water to splash some back at her best friend. The two have a laugh, Miu and Chiharu copying them yet again and engaging in a water war all on their own. Pretty soon every girl is a little damp in the upper half, and Hiroki is lucky that he’s in need of so much sleep as a baby.

“I think we all look pathetic enough to get at least a pity night here, now, don’t you girls think so?” Sango holds her arms out as droplets roll off her sleeves, and then she places her hands on her hips and turns her face proudly. The girls clap, laughing and looking up at Kagome, who copies them now and joins in.

The five of them, plus Kirara, look like…

…a family.

Kagome and Sango share the very thought, but keep it to themselves with a warmth tickling their throats.

Chiharu holds the sleeping cat while her sister clutches Kagome’s hand. Kagome has the pack of supplies slung across her back, and Sango carries Hiroki while they climb up the gentle hill to what the hope is an amicable group of people. The two specifically avoided clusters of huts they remembered from previous demon-fighting, shard-finding days to be absolutely closed and aggressive villages, but this one… they’d never seen before.

The shrine, larger than it had looked from overhead, rises above the horizon as the group approaches, and it’s even more magnificent on ground. The building itself sits proudly atop a network of pillars, and a humble staircase leads up into the desk. Paper chains of prayers hang around the awnings held up with even larger, more colorful and imposing pillars, the shrine easily, by Kagome’s measure, three stories tall. Even the children are silent while their mouths gape and their big eyes take in the sight, never having experienced anything quite this grand before. As the sun rises behind them, they tread on their own shadows, and Kagome and Sango give each other a nervous look, a reassuring smile. They lift themselves with timid steps up the stairs to the entrance and just as Kagome is about to knock, the grand door swings open with such force that the momentum gives Kagome the rightful instinct to jump a few steps back.

Apparently, the instinct for her own safety fails her as the ominous figure snatches its arms around Kagome, an ominous embrace that forces Sango immediately into defense mode, standing ready to fight. She lurches forward but the figure, Kagome tangled and swallowed in swaths of ornate cloth, spins quickly enough to dodge the attack.

“Kagome!” Sango’s voice is more worried than it’s ever been, a tone saved only for her children.

“Kagomeeee!” the voice from the figure calls, a blend of taunt and wonder. “What a pretty name! So lucky to have one so elegant!—” When Kagome feels an odd rubbing atop her head, reminding her of her own cheek squishing against dear Buyo’s face, she utters out a calm “Wait.” to Sango, who obliges.

The arms tighten one last time and then release Kagome, the young priestess stumbling and flailing right into Sango’s waiting arms. She turns around and a pale face steps forward from the shadows, a sight that causes both women to drop their jaws. It’s a kind face, a woman whose joy had been etched into fine, beautiful wrinkles adorning the loving expression. She smiles with a brightness they hadn’t been expecting as she folds her delicate, bony hands into the sleeves that had draped around Kagome before.

Ah. So it was just a hug. A warm, if frightening and sudden, embrace, simple meant to greet and not harm.

“And you! What’s your name?” She looks to Sango, that warm smile ever-present. “Oh, of course! How could I be so candid, my name first! I am Tsuru. I, along with my dear Kotone are the leaders of this village. Now—oh, joyous day! You have children as well? Tell me, tell me about your family!”

Sango blushes, a tint of warmth coloring her face. Not many people paid this much attention to her since—well, since she’d married Miroku. The long practiced confidence had cooled a few touches, and so she spoke quietly. “My… my name is Sango. My son’s name is Hiroki, and my twins are named Chiharu and Miu. We’re all hoping that this meeting… is a pleasurable one?” She’s wary, but just optimistic enough to hope for an invitation. At least for one night.

“Most pleasurable indeed!” Tsuru claps, her eyes shut and showing off her delighted wrinkles around her eyes, the smile lines around her mouth well worn. “Won’t you please come in? We were just making breakfast, and there’s always room for more.” Motioning inside, the rather royal-looking woman shifts her body to the side, the room lit with fire and sunlight muted with paper doors along the other walls.

Sango and Kagome share a look, gulp, and usher themselves inside. The interior as just as beautiful as the exterior, large structures built for prayer and solitude. The women must live here, too, as there appear to be rooms branching off to the sides and the back, and the smell of freshly cooked food permeates the air.

It’s lovely, all too lovely, so the women guard themselves as they walk. Kagome, as Sango clutches her precious baby close, takes it upon herself to clasp the twins’ hands within her one, one assigned to each palm. Their steps are light, and their mouths are shut softly, no additional information offered to the old woman. So many demons had soured their trust with attacks and tricks, and this village, though a cautious beam of salvation, was no different. At least, for now.

“Kotone! I hope you’ve prepared more than you and I can eat for ourselves again—we have guests! Pretty ones at that!” The two blush, the compliment being so… foreign to both former wives. When’s the last time either of them had heard something positive from anyone, besides each other? Their chests filled with warmth.

“I’m sure they’ll be a great addition to our village,” a raspier, and calmer, yet just as kind voice says from beyond their sight, behind a wall from which the delicious arome seemed to come. The group sits down at the little fireplace where a pot hangs, cooking stew as the other woman—in far less ornate clothing, they note—stands without facing them, slicing bread and pouring drinks for her guests. Her hair is tied into a neat ponytail, her clothes much more simple than Tsuru’s and similar to Kagome’s, a blend somewhere between the two.

She turns and they find her face just as aged, without the wrinkles being so deep. Not that she’s any less pretty, but if she’s been living with Tsuru, they figure one’s calm of the eye balances out the manic of the storm, so they give teensy smiles upon meeting her.

As she sets down the wooden tray, with pretty ceramic bowls to hold their meals, she repeats the name her companion’s already called out, and welcomes them. Chit chat is idle, the older women asking the questions Kagome and Sango dared not answer previously, though the information they receive is somewhat short. Reserved. The women with experience etched into their aged faces don’t prod, however; very politely moving onto their next curiosities.

“So you have children.” Tsuru coyly hides her pursed smile behind a sleeve, eyes glittering with anticipation. Kotone chews her food, wise eyes peeking at them. “How did you…” Tsuru’s eyes squeeze gleefully. “Come about that?”

Sango’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. Well, to be blunt… “The normal way, I suppose…” She trails off, biting her lip. “Oh, but these are all my kids. We recently… decided to leave our old village in search of something new.”

“How delightful,” the calmer of the two murmurs and Tsuru can’t help but giggle with a muffled squeal. She must love kids and babies—a sentiment Sango understands how that particular feeling comes with age. Her guard purposefully cracks open a bit, endeared by the seemingly great amount of love and warmth she can start to feel flowing from these women. What a nice change.

“We were wondering,” Kagome chimes in when she finishes her yummy food and clicks down her utensils, “if we could stay, maybe… just one night?” She’s sheepish, chin bent low as those big puppy eyes of hers top the smile she wears. It looks like she doesn’t even need to pull out that old trick, however.

“Well of course, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like!”

“Invitations are our specialty, after all.”

Smiling, Tsuru tilts her head and giggles a much quieter chuckle than her signature muffled half-squeal. “Wonderful. Now, if you would… Allow me, to show you your new home.”

Kagome gives the women a good once-over, eyes trailing all the way from neatly folded hands to long, silver gray hair; from rolled up sleeves well worn with care to a ponytail even longer than Sango’s despite being tied up. Her smile becomes genuine rather than sweetly… slightly… manipulative, and she claps her hands before she gives them a bow. It’s settled.

“Thank you so much, Miss Tsuru and Miss Kotone.” She opens one eye and peeks up at Sango, her cheeks squeezing at it with pure happiness. “We can’t wait to be part of your world.”

**Author's Note:**

> Also I hate to admit this but I'm kinda... super bad about writing, and then rereading a few times, editing, and then just posting. So if you see any mistakes that I happened to miss like spelling or grammar or like, a repeated paragraph, or anything like that... please tell me. I'm more than happy to fix it. I'm just too lazy to prevent it... but I think I'm doing okay!
> 
> Or if you have tag suggestions or anything—I'm open to all kinds of feedback. 😇


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